:: Issues/Actions ::

Your right to
breastfeed anywhere, anytime is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms.

Despite this,
breastfeeding is still an endangered practice.
The entrenchment of a bottle-feeding culture, public policy, institutional
practices and negative attitudes towards breastfeeding have all minimized
and undervalued the contribution breastfeeding women make to the health and
well-being of our society. As a result, they still risk harassment - stares,
leers and even expulsions - when feeding their baby in public places.

Federally, the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms also affords some protection. Section
15(1) states as follows:

· 15(1) Every individual is equal before and
under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the
law without discrimination and, in particular without discrimination based on
race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or
physical disability.

·

To ensure that
women receive full benefit of all Charter guarantees, gender equality is also
enshrined in Section 28 of the Charter.

· 28 Notwithstanding anything in this
Charter, the rights and freedoms referred to in it are guaranteed equally to
male and female persons.

What
can you do if you are harassed for breastfeeding you baby?

Report the incident to the
Human Rights Commission in your province. As commissions don't handle many
complaints about breastfeeding, individual officers may be unfamiliar with the
issue and require some explanation of why this is discrimination, or why the
provision of an alternative place to breastfeed is not enough. Be persistent.
Contact a women's rights organization, La Leche League or other group for help
and support if you feel you are not being heard.

Legal precedent has not been set to specifically
include breastfeeding under human rights protection to date, however, the recent
Supreme Court of Canada decision, Brooks v. Canadian Safeway Ltd. (1989), 59
D.L.R. (4th) 321 (S.C.C.), Dickson C.J.C. states;

...how could pregnancy discrimination be
anything other than sex discrimination? The disfavoured treatment accorded to
Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Allan, and Mrs. Dixon flowed entirely from their state of
pregnancy, a condition unique to women. They were pregnant because of their sex.
Discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is a form of sex discrimination because
of the basis of the biological fact that only women have the capacity to become
pregnant.

Help
to protect the rights of all women to breastfeed in public

Educate your community about
the importance of breastfeeding

Lobby the Attorney General of Canada to include
the right to breastfeed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Lobby your provincial Human Rights Commissioner
and government ministry responsible to specifically include the right to
breastfeed in the Human Rights Code